California Biographies
Transcribed by Peggy Hooper
This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm
Source:
History of the state of California and biographical record of the San Joaquin
Valley, California. An historical story of the state's marvelous growth from
its earliest settlement to the present time.
Prof. James Miller Guinn , A. M.
The Chapman Publishing Co., Chicago 1905
Notes: Missing Page: 865-866,983-984,1175-1176
RALEIGH E. RHODES. Through the inheritance of exceptional ability from his father
and grandfather, both of whom were attorneys of prominence, and through the diligent culti-
vation of his talents, Raleigh E. Rhodes has gained a reputation as one of the leading law-
yers of Madera county. In the field of criminal law he has met with especial success. His pre-
eminence as a criminal lawyer has been established by his skilled management of numerous
important suits, notably the Lawson, Rockwell and Derby murder trials, also the Fornier case,
the most bitterly contested of any ever tried in the county. As attorney for the Valley Railroad
when projected through Fresno, he successfully fought the condemnation suits in behalf of the
railway.
The family genealogy is traced to Major Joseph T. Rhodes, an officer in the Revolutionary
war under General Washington. The grandfather, Col. E. A. Rhodes, a native of North
Carolina, became an influential attorney and served as United States consul to Texas stationed
at Galveston. In the family of Colonel Rhodes was a son, William H., who was born in Windsor,
N. C, in 1822, and was orphaned by his mother's death when he was a child of six years. After
his preliminary education he was sent to Princeton, N. J., where he was a student in the uni-
versity. Upon the appointment of his father as consul at Galveston he joined him in that city,
where he continued his classical studies. In 1844 he matriculated in the Harvard Law
School, and at the expiration of his term returned to Texas, where he was honored with the
office of probate judge. After a brief sojourn in New York at the conclusion of his service
as jurist, he took up the practice of law in Windsor, N. C, and remained there until he
heard of the discovery of gold in California. In 1850 he came to San Francisco, where he was
a member of the vigilance committee of 1856 and one of the most prominent lawyers of his
day. During those times he was editor and part owner of the True California!!, for which he pre-
pared some very able editorials and literary articles. As a brilliant writer, he won a reputa-
tion on the coast. He was a man of classical education and intellectual attainments, and his
writings, judged by the standard of both that day and this, possess great literary merit. In
literature he had a fondness for the Jules Verne style of writing. He delighted in scientific fiction
and acquired prominence by several imaginative articles of that kind which came from his pen.
Socially he was popular and prominent, a genial companion, a prominent Knight Templar Mason,
and one of the founders of the Bohemian Club of San Francisco. In that city his death occurred
April 14, 1876. His wife, who was Susan M. McDermott, was born in England, but at an
early age came to Oroville, Cal., where she had a brother in business ; she survived her hus-
band a great many years, dying in 1901 in San Francisco.
Next to the youngest of four sons, Raleigh E. Rhodes was born in San Francisco October
1, 1868. After completing the studies of local schools he entered the law office of Colonel
Flournoy and later for six years was with Naphtaly, Freidenrich & Ackerman, of San Fran-
cisco, one of the leading firms of attorneys on the coast. After two years of study in the Hast-
ings Law School, in 1889 he was admitted to the Supreme Court of California. For several
years he continued in his native city, but in 1893 came to Madera. Three years later he formed
a partnership with H. H. Welsh, and opened an office in Fresno, but after three years came back
to Madera, where he has since conducted a general law practice. During his residence in Fresno
he became actively connected with the Fresno County Bar Association. The Democratic party
receives his ballot and influence, and in 1902 he was his party's nominee for district attorney, but
was defeated by R. R. Fowler. As an attorney his ability is unquestioned. The high principles
of honor which have guided him in the conduct of his practice justly bring him the confidence of
associates and acquaintances and give him a high rank among the attorneys of Madera. Socially
he is popular, and fraternally holds membership with Yosemite Parlor No. 130, N. S. G. W.
His marriage took place in Berkeley, and united him with Lillian Welton, who was born in New
York City and is a graduate of the Berkeley high school. To this marriage three children
were born: Welton, Marjorie and Beatrice. The family of which she is a member has not been
without influence in the east, and to her grandfather, former United States Senator Thomas
Morris, of Ohio, belonged the distinction of having appointed Ulysses S. Grant to the West
Point Academy.